Plasterboard reinforcement



April' 7,1942. B. F. ARENDT PLASTER' BOARD REINFORCEMENT Filed May '19, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 .forcement on the board sections.

Patented Apr. 7, i942 2,2'2'8,Z58 'rnas'rnoann anrnroncaman'r Beach Frederick Arendt, Park iltidga, Iiih, assignor to United States Gypsum (Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application May 19, 1939, Seriai No. 2ii,558

5 Claims.

' merit of the boards either separately or in bundles.

The present invention is an improvement over. the disclosure in the copending application of H. K. Linzell, Serial No. 193,690, for'Board joint reinforcement.

An object of this invention is to provide a board reinforcement for the edges of building boards which will prevent cracking of overlying plaster at the board joints and which may easily be separated or broken at a predetermined point along the reinforcement and substantially coincident with a line scored by the workman on the board the corners of a room or around doors and win- It is an object of the present invention to provide a reinforcement so constructed that the board may easily be'scored over its entire width and the; reinforcement may be easily broken closely adjacent the scored line without involving any additional operations or the use of tools other than the hatchet commonly used for scoring.

A. further objectis the provision of a reinforcement having weakened portions at spaced intervals, whereby the reinforcement may be broken adjacent any line of scoring and whereby the efficiency of the reinforcement is not diminished either when the entire board is used or when it is separated-into'sections.

It is also an object; to provide a board reinforcement of the character described which is inexpensive, may easily be manipulated on the job with a minimum of labor, and which prodows. This is usually accomplished by scoring v the board with a hatchet and then breaking the board along the scored line. In the plaster board disclosed in the previously mentioned copending application, a strip of reinforcement is secured to the face of the board adjacent its edge and the reinforcement is preferably hinged to the board so that it may be moved from a position contiguous to the surface of the board, inwardly of the hinge axis, to a position to contiguously overlie a closely adjacent board.

It is common practice for the workman, when he desires to score and break one of the boards into sections, to tear loose and discard the entire strip of reinforcement. This leaves a portionof the wall without any reinforcement of any kind. Ordinarily the workman receives instructions to cut the reinforcement adjacent the scored line of the board and to retain the portions of rein However,'in practice, it has been found that the average workman will not do this, as it necessitates the use of pliers or other cutting means and thereby slows up the building operation.

vides a means for easily separating the reinforcement into sections, which separation may be accomplished with much less labor than the re-' moval of the reinforcement from the boarditself- Further objects will be apparent from the specification and the appended claims.

The general construction of the board and reinforcement shownin the drawings is substantially identical with that shown in the aboveidentified copending application with the improvement of the present invention incorporated therewith.

In the drawings:-

Fig. 1 is a plan View of a portion of a plaster board having a hinged reinforcement thereon and illustrates one embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary front elevation of a building walhhaving boards similar to those shown in Fig. l incorporated therein with the reinforcing element extended across the joint; between the boarcls in reinforcing position.

Fig.3 is a plan view of one of the reinforcing members.

Fig. 4 is an edge view of the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view through aboard joint and is taken on a line substantially corresponding to' line 55 of Fig; 1 and with the reinforcement in inoperative position.

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. s'but with the reinforcement extended across the joint between the boards.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged transverse sectional view through the reinforcing member and taken, on a w edge.

the embodiment shown in Fig. 11 and is taken on a line substantially corresponding to line l2- -I2 of Fig. 11.

Fig. 13 is an end elevation of one of the punch members shown in Figs. 11 and 12.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the embodiment illustrated comprises building boards I which may be of wood or other vegetable fibers or may be paper covered gypsum or other suitable composition. These boards are preferably provided with V-joint interlocking edges 2, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, although any suitable joints may be used, and the edges of the board are preferably beveled at 3 on the face designed to receive a coating of plaster 4. In building a wall, the boards I are usually attached by nails 5 to studs or joists 6 with the long dimension of the boards extending transversely of the studs so as to form a suitable plaster base. The boards I are usually 16 inches wide by 48 inches long, so that they may extend across three studs spaced 16 inches on centers or across four'studs spaced 12 inches on centers, with the joints staggered.

The reinforcing member of the present embodiment comprises a wire I with alternate pointed sections 8 and square sections 8 along one edge and square sections I0 along the other Slightly inclined wire sections ll join the sections 8, 9, and It to form a continuous strip of wire-like reinforcement which may easily be formed on an automatic Wire bending machine, such as shown in Figs. 11, 12, and 13. The sections 9 are attached to the face of the board I adjacent one long edge thereof by means of staples [2. These staples form hinges about which the reinforcement may be swung through 180 degrees into operative position lying across the joint between the boards as shown in Figs. 2 and 6. normally in the position shown in Fig. 5, and, when the board is mounted on a wall, the reinforcement is swung downwardly to overlap the joint between adjacent boards as illustrated in Fig. 6.

The alternate connecting sections 8 between the stapled sections may be pointed as shown or may be arcuate or formed in any suitable manner to provide a snap action when the reinforcement is rotated from one position to another. The pointed section 8 may also be bent outward slightly as shown in Fig. 5 so that, when the reinforcement is in the joint overlapping position shown in Fig. 6, the resilience of the wire will retain the reinforcement snugly against the board as shown. The pointed or otherwise formed sections 8 cause the reinforcing strip to be momentarily warped and to swing into the position shown in Fig. 6 with a snapping action. This snap action is important in the efllcient In other words, the reinforcement is operation of the reinforcement for the reason that it is only necessary to swing the reinforcement through slightly more than degrees when the spring action of the pointed sections on the face of the board will cause the rein forcement to snap into the position shown in Fig. 6 without further effort on the part of the workman.

As previously stated, it is desirable to score the boards transversely along a line substantially corresponding to'one of the dotted lines A shown in Fig. 1 when it is desired to break the board in sections so thatone of these sections may be used in a comer or adjacent a door or the like.

After the board is scored, it may be broken apart along the scored line in the manner shown in Fig. 9. However,- unless suitable provision is made, the reinforcement prevents separation of the sections and must, therefore, be cut or otherwise separated adjacent the scored line. In order to accomplish this, all of the sections ID are provided adjacent their -median line with notches I3. These notches are illustrated particularly in the enlarged'views, Figs. 7 and 8.

The wires ordinarily used for this reinforcement may be of any suitable diameter. However, they are usually about ths inch in diameter and the sections are notched at l3 to about one-fourth of the diameter of the wire. These notches are for the purpose of enabling the workman to easily break the reinforcement in the manner shown in Fig. 10. It is desirable also that the'maximum strength of the wire should be in a plane vertical to the face of the board when the reinforcement is ineither of the positions shown in Fig. 5 or Fig. 6. It is also desirablethat the notches should be on the upper side of the wire when the wire is in the position shown in Fig. 9, whereby it may easily be broken by a downward flip or snap of the board held in a vertical plane, thereby causing the separation of the wire in the manner shown in Fig. 10. In order that the notch may always assume the positions shown when the reinforcement is in any of the corresponding positions illustrated, the notches are placed on the inner side of the sections III as shown and are perpendicular with the face of the board. The notches l3 are preferably formed by means of a substantially V-shaped punch which operates automatically during the formation of the zigzag reinforcement. It is, of course, apparent that the notches may be of other forms, the main object being to provide weakened portions at intervals along the reinforcement and so positioned as to retain thegreatest possible reinforcing strength of the wire against lateral stress when it is in either of the positions shown in Figs. 5 and 6. It will also be apparent that the notch is in a position to retain the greatest strength against breakage when the workman is turning the reinforcement on its hinge. That is, any pressure brought to bear on the reinforcement during turning will be at right angles to the wire longitudinally of the groove. It has been found in practice that the notch 13 need not be very deep, as the tendency is to crystallize the wire slightly adjacent the notch and enable it to be more easily broken. Figs. 11, 12, and 13 illustrate a device for forming the wire reinforcement previously described. This forming tool comprises a. die [4 having projecting portions l5 and I 6, the outer contours of which are arranged to provide the desired shapes of the wire sections 8 and 9. -A punch I5 is provided for co-operation with the die l4 and this punch is arranged to conform parent that any suitable angle may be providedas required. The punch member i9 is internally threaded and is provided with an adjusting member 22 threaded therein and seated at the bottom of the opening 20. It will be apparent that, by adjusting the member 22, the depth of the notch in the wire may carefully be regulated. The punch member [9 is secured in position by means of a hollow setscrew 22a which is threaded into the punch member I! in a position to engage the pointed punch l9 and retain it rigidly in position against rotation. Each of the punch members one of these pointed punches fornotching the wire, and it will also be understood that the punch portion l5 of the device may be sectional, if desired, and the sections moved into wire forming position consecutively in order to prevent undue longitudinal drawing of the wire between the punch and die.

Modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of .the invention, and it istherefore desired that the invention be limited only by the prior art and the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described this invention, what is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In the-wallboard art, the combination with a wallboard having a joint reinforcing strip secured adjacent one edge thereof to overlap an adjacent board, of restricted spaced portions of said reinforcement materially reinforcement transversely of said board and to I9 is provided with weakened transversely of the plane of said board in a manner to retain nearly the maximum strength of said 2. In a board joint reinforcement, the combination with a building board, of a zigzag wire hingedly mounted adjacent one edge of said board to overlap an adjacent board, said wire being notched at intervals transversely of the plane of said reinforcement to enable easier breakage of said w1re in response to stress in said plane than to stress applied transversely thereto.

3. In a board reinforcement, the combination with a building board, of a zigzag wire forming a joint reinforcement hingedly secured adjacent the edge of said board to overlap an adjacent board, the crests of said wire along the free edge of said reinforcement being notched transversely of the plane of said reinforcement to weaken said wire at intervals and to enable easier breaking thereof in response to stress applied in the plane of said reinforcement than transversely thereof. 4. In a board reinforcement,- the combination with a building board, of a zigzag wire forming a v joint reinforcement hingedly secured adjacent the edge of said board to overlap an adjacent board, the crests of said wire along the free edge of said reinforcement being transversely notched on the side facing the median line -of said reinforcement to enable easy breakage when said wire is bent in the plane of said reinforcement.

5. The combination with a'wallboard having an elongated joint reinforcing element and a v hinge securingsaid element to said board adjacent the edge thereof for movement from a position contiguous to the surface of saidboard inwardly of the hinge axis to a position to contiguously overlie a closely adjacent board, of means automatically operative between said axis and said board and resiliently associated with saidelement to cause resilient pressure against said board and to thereby enable said element to'be swung on said hinge from one extreme position to the other with a toggle-like snap action, said element being materially weakened transversely thereof at spaced restricted points along its length, said weakened points beingformed and positioned to resist materially greater breaking stress transversely of the plane of said element than in the same plane.

BEACH FREDERICK ARENDII. 

